U.S. Spent $6.5 Million on Unused Afghan Broadcast Towers

As of June 30, 2013, the United States had appropriated approximately $104 billion for relief and reconstruction in Afghanistan since 2002, and these funds have been used to build the Afghan National Security Forces, promote good government, conduct development assistance, and build infrastructure. Tom Engelhardt wrote in the Huffington Post, “U.S. military spent billions of taxpayer dollars in both Afghanistan and Iraq on nation-building infrastructural efforts of all sorts, and the Pentagon’s Inspector General (IG) repeatedly reported on the failures, disasters, and boondoggles that resulted.” One of the “failures” recently reported by Reuters explained that the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that $6.5 million U.S. taxpayer funds were used to construct six communication towers that were never used. Continue reading here.